Authorities investigate homicide on East Hanover Street, victim ID'd

TRENTON – Just hours after the New Jersey Attorney General’s office announced there would be a stronger police presence on the city’s streets following the shooting of a 9-year-old girl on Monday, a city man was shot and killed on East Hanover Street according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s office.

Just before midnight on Wednesday, police were called to the 200 block of East Hanover Street on a report of shots fired, the prosecutor’s office said.

When police arrived, they found a man on the sidewalk bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.

The man, identified as Keith Day, 26, of Trenton, was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, Casey DeBlasio, a spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.

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Day has a checkered history with Trenton Authorities, In July of 2013, he was part of a police-involved shooting. During the incident , in which Day had allegedly fired shots near a crowd of people on Hudson Street police were forced to shoot the then 25-year-old. At the time, police ordered Day to drop his gun, at which point he then allegedly raised his gun at officers. Police opened fire and wounded Day who managed to flee the scene. He later turned up at Lourdes Medical Center in Willingboro with gunshot wounds. He was transferred to another facility under police guard, where he was facing charges at the time.

On February 19, Day was indicted in a six count indictment. Most notably he was indicted on two-counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, weapons offenses and resisting arrest, according to the Mercer County prosecutor’s office. It’s unclear on what sort of jail time he would have been facing.

The death comes after more violence that includes the funeral shooting at Galilee Baptist Church on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, the shooting of a 9-year-old girl on Bellevue Avenue and a host of other shootings.

On Wednesday, the state’s acting attorney general John Hoffman said, “[w]e are doubling down on our law enforcement deployments under the TIDE/TAG anti-violence crime initiative. If the gangsters and drug dealers of Trenton think nothing of cutting down a child with their indiscriminate gunfire, they’d better think twice about the full force of the law bearing down on them. We’re standing strong with the people of Trenton this summer.”

Currently no suspects have been identified in the late night homicide near a popular city art gallery and community garden built and maintained by the SAGE Coalition, a group who seeks to beautify the city through various works. The Gandhi Garden represents a bright spot in the city where community activists and artists alike came together to turn a barren lot into a thriving oasis. However, the increasing violence and lack of funds seems to be slowing the SAGE Coalition’s momentum. “SAGE is spread thin these days,” said Will Kasso Condry, “[There is] a lot of work to do with little to no financial backing. I’m not sure how long our presence will be here on Hanover in the future.” Condry, still a bit shaken by the said that the violence in the town is beginning to take its toll on the group. “The violence in the town is suffocating, and we are running our of oxygen. We are doing our best to stay optimistic, but each day is getting more and more difficult.”

The homicide is under investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and anyone with information is asked to call Det. Eric Hastings at (609) 989-6400. Anyone with information is asked to call (609) 989-6406, or use the Trenton police confidential tip line at (609) 989-3663. Tipsters may also call the Trenton Crime Stoppers tipline at (609) 278-8477. Those wishing to text a tip regarding the killing or any of the other crimes can send a message labeled TCSTIPS to Trenton Crime Stoppers at 274637.

About the Author

Scott is a reporter/photographer at the Trentonian covering general assignment work in the Greater Trenton Area. Reach the author at sketterer@trentonian.com
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